University of North Carolina Athletics
Hairston Goes 26th Overall In NBA Draft
June 27, 2014 | Men's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL - The Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat selected former University of North Carolina guard P.J. Hairston with the 26th pick in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft on Thursday night.
The Heat then traded Hairston to the Charlotte Hornets in a multi-player deal involving Connecticut's Shabazz Napier.
"I am ecstatic for P.J.," says Tar Heel head coach Roy Williams. "I think he's going to be a great addition to the Hornets. I am happy that he will still play in state and for another Tar Heel, Michael Jordan. It certainly will make it easier to see him play. Life has given him another opportunity and he will take great advantage of that chance."
Former Tar Heel James Michael McAdoo was not drafted and will pursue a free agent professional contract.
Hairston scored 707 points in 71 games for the Tar Heels in 2011-12 and 2012-13. He played last season for the Texas Legends in the NBA Development League.
As a sophomore, Hairston led the Tar Heels in scoring at 14.6 points per game and made 89 three-pointers, the second-highest single-season figure in UNC history. In two collegiate seasons, Hairston averaged 10.0 points, shot 34.9 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line.
The Greensboro, N.C., native scored a career-high 29 points against Virginia in 2013 and 28 against Miami in the 2013 ACC championship game, making a career-best six three-pointers in each of those games.
Hairston is the 15th Tar Heel to play for Williams and be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.
Overall, he is the 46th first round pick from UNC and the 107th Tar Heel taken in any round in NBA Draft history.
The 2014 NBA Draft is the first in 22 years in which players from each of the three Triangle schools—North Carolina, Duke and NC State—were selected in the first round. Tonight, UNC's Hairston, Duke's Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood and NC State's T.J. Warren were first round picks. In 1992, UNC's Hubert Davis was joined in the first round by Duke's Christian Laettner and NC State's Tom Gugliotta.
